I Like that Guy
I like a lot of people. For evidence, please note that I have over 400 friends on Facebook. Yes, I know them all; I didn’t add any just to improve my mobster score os something. But today I’m talking about me. I’m talking about when I look at a picture of me and say, “I like that guy.”
Taking a breather in Little Cottonwood Canyon, June 2012
Canyon self portrait
This past summer I took a self portrait about half way up Little Cottonwood Canyon. I’m wearing a bike helmet and funny cycling shirt. And I like that guy. I like that guy because he took on a challenge he had never thought he could do, and did it. Before this summer, I had never ridden my bike up Little Cottonwood Canyon, which is strange considering that I grew up in Utah, and have been cycling here for years. I have ridden other canyons, but never this one. I had always seen riding canyons as the domain of serious cyclists, and had never put myself into that camp. But that guy did it.
Ready to run Gary’s Glade at Solitude, February 2013
Snow skiing
I thought about that photo yesterday while I was skiing with my brother. We were at our old haunt, Solitude. I realized — after a few years with virtually no skiing outside of the rope tow at Alta — that not only do I enjoy skiing, but that I like the guy that I am when I do it. There was a quick moment when we were cruising down a groomer (not the most challenging thing, I know), when we had a quick detour through some chop. At that moment I realized that I have a confidence, borne of experience, that whatever the mountain throws at me, I can handle. I skied Paradise and Paradise Lost. I skied Challenger. I attacked a chopped and soft-bumped Last Run. There was never a time when I was afraid that I couldn’t get out of the situation I was in. I like that guy.
Attacking the course at Last Chance Lakes, August 2012
Water skiing
Kyle took some great photos of me water skiing this past summer. These photos show me skiing better than I thought that I knew how. Please understand that I know a lot of people who ski better than I do. But, these photos show a spark, an attack. At times I placidly let the slalom course come to me, accepting that I am far from the best skier on the lake. (At times even when I’m the only skier on the lake.) But there are those times when I get a vision that I have the ability to run the slalom course end-to-end. I get the feeling that I can pull out wide enough to make each turn. I see myself progressing. When that happens I aggressively push myself and get results like those pictures show. I like that guy: the guy who doesn’t just accept the status quo, but pushes for something better.
Family portrait at Lake Powell, September 2012
Family portrait
There’s a picture of our family that I love. We’re all floating in a lake together. It’s not professional by any stretch of the imagination. But, it’s a moment when I’m being a good, involved dad. My kids are happy, my wife is having a good time, and we’re all together. What’s not to love about that? I like that guy. I like the guy who takes good care of his family and has fun with them.
Sampling Nicole’s great cooking.
Eating
I think that my wife likes another guy: the guy who eats her cooking. I assume this because she takes a lot of pictures of me eating her cooking. Let me clarify: I love my wife’s cooking. She is a great cook. She prepares awesome meals for our family, even though the great food is sometimes lost on our kids. That said, I don’t like the guy who is eating. Maybe it’s a self-image issue, maybe it’s an issue with my scale telling me the painful truth. But, I don’t like the guy who is represented by the constant consumption of food.
Picture or trait
When I first looked at the picture of me cycling the canyon and realized that I liked that guy, I thought that it was just the picture. However, I’ve since come to realize that it’s not the quality of the photograph, but the traits that each of these photographs represent that make me like them (or not).
Your turn
Your assignment, should you choose to accept it is this: Tell me about a photo of yourself that you like, and what it represents about you.
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